Featured Image Credit: Tom Scott / YouTube
YouTuber Tom Scott was invited to travel on the world's fastest train.
Maglev trains were once hailed as cutting-edge technology promising fast and smooth travel between faraway cities. But they never really took off and to this day, the only maglev service runs in Shanghai, China.
'The future appears to be arriving and I'm going to take a ride on it,' Tom excitedly announced.
Before boarding, Tom watched the train speed past the platform at 500 km/h, which is about 1 km per second.
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The train appears all but silent until it creeps up on you at the last second.
'That's incredible,' Tom added. 'I don't have words.'
Yukio Takahashi, the general manager of the Yamanashi Maglev Test Center at JR Central, explained the train's design which began conducting test runs 27 years ago.
'So far, the total distance travelled by the maglev in Yamanashi is 4.3 million kilometres,' Yukio said. 'The Earth's circumference is about 40,000 kilometres so we conducted a test run of about 107 laps.'
Riding the train, Tom noticed that the 'acceleration is noticeable.'
The pushback he felt was only something he'd experienced on planes.
'It's a little bouncy but nothing you wouldn't expect on a regular train,' he continued.
The entire test track Tom was on is longer than the one operating in Shanghai. 'The route is 285 km, taking about 40 minutes which is less than half the time of the bullet train,' Tom added.
As the majority of the track is through tunnels, the only real reference point for speed is the screen at the front of the carriage.
According to Yukio, the highest speed the maglev train has achieved in Japan with people on board was 603 km/h (374 mph) which earned them a Guinness World Record.
But for everyday, commercial usage, JR plans to keep the trains at 500 km/h which was the speed of Tom's train.
'This is the fastest I've ever travelled on land,' Tom added. 'And it feels like a train.'
He continued: 'Although it's a little louder than most trains, it's quieter than an aircraft.'
Maglev trains use magnetic force to accelerate and decelerate, 'it doesn't rely on friction to run,' Yukio said.
This means that when the train bends around the track, it increases its incline to manoeuvre more easily, but it's usually unfelt by passengers.
If this sounds like a cool way to travel, unfortunately, the plans to roll them out in Europe keep being pushed back with local government concerns of construction.
But if anything, Tom's experience should prove that maglev technology and economics are sound, and there is a clear demand for high-speed land travel.
